Calypso Rising
by P.H. Wise
Summary: Summary: What if Sao Feng *hadn't* been mistaken? The consequences for Elizabeth Swann are far-reaching indeed. Spoilers for Pirates 3. A BtVS/Pirates of the Caribbean crossover.


Calypso Rising  
by P.H. Wise  
A BtVS/Pirates of the Caribbean crossover fanfic

Disclaimer: Pirates is owned by Disney. Buffy is Joss's baby. I own neither. Please don't sue me.

--

They were beaten - taken captive by the East India Trading Company. William stood bound in chains at her side, and the raw wound of his having hid his intention from her yet rankled in her stomach, for all that she had done the very same. But Elizabeth Swann was not one to indulge in self-pity; what she felt now was anger. Anger at Will for what he'd done, anger at Sao Feng for his role in their capture. Anger at Jack for being... well, Jack. And especially anger at her own helplessness.

"They have the Dutchman, now the Pearl!" Sao Feng spat, "And what do the Brethren have?"

"We have Calypso," Barbosa replied.

Calypso. The name resonated. At its voicing, everything around her seemed to grow dim, and all the sound in the world save the conversation between the two pirates seemed to cease.

"Calypso," Sao Feng said dismissively. "An old legend."

"No," said Barbosa. "The goddess herself, bound in human form. Imagine all the power of the seas brought to bear against our enemies. I intend to release her, and for that I need the Brethren Court."

The bottom dropped out from Elizabeth's world.

--

It was cold and it was dark, and she couldn't see her daddy anywhere. She didn't know where she was. Mommy had gone away to Heaven, and Daddy was supposed to take her to the New World, but she didn't know where he was, and she didn't know where she was. Wherever she was, she wasn't alone: something was in the room with her: a presence dark and cold as the bottomless depths, raging within the mystical cage which bound her. Elizabeth couldn't see it - the cage was behind her, but she felt the creature's eyes upon her.

Elizabeth Swann began to cry.

"Have ye brought her?" a familiar voice asked, and she looked up.

A distinctive looking man with a feather in his cap, his eyes not unkind, walked into the room, and the sound of his boots on the stone floor was loud in that place.

"We have," a large black man in tribal garb replied. He carried a wooden staff with a crystal set into its tip.

"And ye can do what the Brethren Court have asked of ye?"

The black man nodded. "She carries the Potential within her, and at six years old, she is too young to be a viable Slayer. As a precaution, we have put in place certain spells to ensure that she is never Chosen: two such powers within the same body would be dangerous at best.

The man with the feathered hat looked at Elizabeth, and for a moment, his face seemed full of regret. "I am not without a heart, child. I be sorry to ask this of ye, but if we're to have peace in these waters, there's no other way."

"I want my daddy!" Elizabeth cried.

The man with the feathered hat looked away. "Do what ye came to do, Shadow-Man."

The shadow-man nodded. "The Council must not hear of this, Barbosa," he said, and spared a glance for Elizabeth and for the rune-bound elemental shape in the glowing cage behind her. "Since they relocated to England, they have become a strange, jealous group. They would not allow this 'Calypso' of yours to inhabit even the shell of one of their Potentials."

"Aye. They shall never know of it from me. This I swear as the Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea."

The black man nodded, and turned to Elizabeth. "So be it." He raised his staff... and the world changed forever.

--

Elizabeth came back to herself with a sudden intake of breath. She gave Barbosa a long, bewildered look, ignoring Will's concerned gaze. "It was you..." she whispered.

Barbosa would not meet her gaze. "... Aye," he murmured. "We can never set it right. Never give life back to the little girl we killed when we put you in her body. There's no forgiveness for what we did."

"I'm Elizabeth Swann," she said. "Elizabeth Swann."

The look he gave her then made her stomach churn in a way that even her terror while held captive to the undead captain had never done: Barbosa's pity was far worse than his contempt.

Sao Feng looked from Elizabeth to Barbosa and back. "This girl is..." he trailed off, "You would have us release one you have wronged so deeply?"

Barbosa nodded. "It be the right thing. The best thing. The only thing, maybe."

Elizabeth Swann shook her head in denial. Even as Tia Dalma put a comforting hand on her shoulder, she shook her head.

The cannons were firing. Battle began. Swords flashed. And in the chaos, there stood Elizabeth Swann, shaking her head again and again, whispering one word over and over: "... No..."

END

--

Author's note: Just a plot bunny that's been racing around in my head for about a year now which I had to write down at last. I'm not sure if I'll continue it, though if anyone likes the idea, feel free to do your own take on where it might go.


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